The Adventures of Sunshine and McShizzle
by OnceUponaDeath013
Summary: The two adventurers set off, at last!, to explore the world and dare things that... normal demigods would do... So, join Leo and Calypso on their epic journey! NOTE - Starts with last chapter of BoO. Please read that before you read this, because major spoilers, duh. Alright! Now that that's over and done with, ENJOY!
1. Calypso - An Unlikely Meeting

_Holy crap. He's back, what do I do, he actually came back, wow okay. _I cross my arms and he's coming here, coming back, whooping like a holy terror. How long did it take him to get here? It seemed like forever, but it's worth it. He kind of lands his… dragon, and flies face-first into the sand. I feel like laughing at him.

"You're late," I say instead, and his nose is on fire as he looks up sheepishly. I almost laugh at him. I'm so ready to leave I'm practically bouncing with joy, but I keep my calm and don't move from my spot.

"Sorry, Sunshine. Traffic was murder," he says, and I can tell. Oh, but he's here, and he's alive, and nothing else matters. But…

"You are covered with soot. And you managed to ruin the clothes I made for you, which were impossible to ruin," I cock an eyebrow at him, and he grins.

"Well, you know," he shrugs and I feel myself smiling. I quickly compose my face, glad he wasn't looking at the moment. "I'm all about doing the impossible."

I hold out my hand and pull him up, taking an inventory of his state. Ugh, he smells bad. I wrinkle my nose and say "You smell-"

"I know. Like I've been dead. Probably because I have been. _Oath to keep with a final breath _and all, but I'm better now-"

I kiss him so he doesn't have to explain any more. He died just to come back to me, and he is all I care about right now, not how he smells, not how impossibly dirty he is, not how he can't land his metal dragon, just that he's _here,_ and he's here for me, and I couldn't care less for him. "Leo Valdez," I say with awe as I pull back.

"That's me," he says, and I can tell he's trying to think of something to say. "So, um… you want to get off this island?" he scratches the back of his head awkwardly, and I grin at him. Stepping back, I wave my hand and my servants bring my two bags, setting them beside me.

"What gave you that idea?" I fight the urge not to kiss him again.

"Packed for a long trip, huh?" he's grinning back at me and I'm so happy that he's here, I can't think of anything else. _How am I keeping cool?_ I wonder, but honestly, who cares?

"I don't plan on coming back." Ever. I look back at the path that would take me back to where I was supposed to spend eternity. _I am so through with you._ I turn back to him. "Where will you take me, Leo?"

"Somewhere to fix my dragon, first," he says, tapping one of his fingers. "And then… wherever you want. How long was I gone, seriously?"

"Time is difficult on Ogygia," I say. "It felt like forever." But forever wasn't too long a wait for you.

He was quiet for a while. "So once you leave Ogygia, do you stay immortal or what?"

"I have no idea." I hope not.

"And you're okay with that?"

"More than okay." Absolutely, positively okay. _I wouldn't want to live without you, Leo._

"Well, then!" he looks at his dragon. "Buddy, are you up for another flight to nowhere in particular?" the dragon blows fire and limps.

Leo turns to look at me, so I decide to say, "So, we take off with no plan, no idea where we'll go or what problems await beyond this island. Many questions, and no tidy answers?"

"That's how I fly, Sunshine. Can I get your bags?" I think I'll be okay with that.

"Absolutely."

We grin at each other, and he grabs both my bags, quickly loading up his dragon.

"So, to nowhere in particular, Festus. Ready for this?" The dragon, Festus, makes a lot of squeaky noises and he climbs on the dragon, giving me a hand up. I wrap my arms tight around his waist, and squeeze my eyes shut.

"We haven't even left the ground, Sunshine." Gees, he's called me that three times. I'm really warming up to it if it hasn't bothered me yet.

"I know," I mumble into his back. "Just preparing for take-off." I know he's smiling as we lift off, and it's really jerky and fast. I scream and realize what I just did, biting my lip.

"Sorry, Sunshine. Once he's fixed it won't be so jerky." I open my eyes and he's looking at me, grinning.

"Eyes on where you are flying, mister, or the deal is off!" I yell at him over the wind, but a smile tugs at my lips.

"Whatever you say." he shrugs and turns back around, picking up the speed. I stare at the clouds, look above me at the bright blue sky. _This is the beginning of the best times of our lives. _I squeeze tighter on Leo, and he laughs. _I am _so _ready for this._

**Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I wrote in the conversation Leo and Calypso had at the end of BoO. I do not own it, obviously. If you haven't read BoO yet, I advise you to, but if you are reading this, you should have hopefully already done that. (I've said BoO several times, it means Blood of Olympus.)**

**I've also posted this on Wattpad, there I am OnceUponaDeath.**

**I hope you enjoy! Please tell me if you find any grammar issues!**


	2. Leo - Super Sized McShizzle

Oh, yeah. Calypso just kissed me and now she's hugging me. Well, as close as it's been to hugging so far… But her Super Sized McShizzle, A.K.A. me, is on the roll!

Okay, so first things first: repair Festus. Where should I repair Festus…

YES! I snap my fingers as I think of it and Calypso yells at me. "Use both hands to drive, mister!" Dang, talk about a backseat driver.

"Fine, fine," I moan, but I smile when I say this. I'm so glad my plan worked. Mainly because if it didn't, I would be dead, and she would still be waiting, and everything would not be happy.

"Why did you snap?" Calypso yells over the wind. I really want to look back at her again, she was a wind goddess in when he first looked back.

"I just thought of where we could go to repair Festus. I was really stupid not to think of it before." As long as it's still around.

How many days, or even years, was I gone? What would I do if everyone was dead and buried, or even just old? Would Camp Half-Blood even still be there?

Camp Half-Blood. Camp Jupiter. Okay, they were a bit... at odds. Well, like the Hunger Games at odds. And the odds were not in Camp Half-Blood's favor, if I remember correctly. I steer Festus down a bit so I can see if I know where we are. Hey, is that Camp Jupiter? I don't really want to disturb them again, since I blew up their camp last time I was there.

"Hey, um, do you want to go disturb a bunch of definitely angry, maybe dead Romans? There is a slight chance they aren't."

"Aren't what? Dead, angry, or Roman?" Calypso asks with an I'm up for it if you are kind of tone. I think.

"Well, dead and Roman part. Whoever it is will definitely be angry that we landed on their property if they aren't' the Romans."

"And why would the Romans be angry at us?"

"Long story short, I blew up the camp mostly and the Romans do not really like me, but I think maybe they thought I was awesome for doing it. Probably not, though."

"Alright, then. Let's go visit some Romans. Is this where we're going to fix Festus?"

"Well, not where I was planning, but if they can help, I will take it." Man, I'm being really serious today. I guess being dead can do that.

I fly Festus down to camp. It's nighttime here, which is perfect cover for a metal dragon. We land by the main entrance, and I think, well, it's definitely better than when I blew it up.

I succeed a little better at making Festus land, without the whole falling off business this time, and get off.

"Hi," I say to the two people standing guard as I help Calypso down. Well, these are definitely Romans. Calypso looks at their metal armor with a raised eyebrow. "It wouldn't work."

"For what?" the one on the left says. It's a guy, and I can't say he looks familiar.

"For his next outfit. He burns right through them. Not even his impossible to ruin outfit worked, as you can tell. So, Reyna. She still praetor?"

"Um, yeah. Do you have an audience with her or something?" he looks her over and I feel the need to punch him in the face.

"Yeah, we do. As you can see, we rode atop the metal dragon this fellow made. Son of Vulcan and all."

"Oh. Um, are we supposed to let them through?" he turns to the guard next to him, a scrawny girl.

"I don't know! It's my first day on duty, did you really expect me to know what to do with two strangers that ride up on a metal dragon?"

"Go in and find Praetor Reyna, then. They said they had an audience with her, after all."

"Fine." she heads in. "But if I get punished for leaving my post, you are a dead man."

"Daughter of Mars?" I ask.

"Yeah. She's really…" he pauses here, and I nod at him to let him continue. "Awesome. She's really awesome. I'm a Son of Venus, which doesn't get me to the top of her list or anything."

He looks kind of downcast and now I think after I punch him in the face I'll be nice and give him some ice. Scratch that, it would melt. I would… not let Calypso give him ice. Oh, Khione could give him ice. Yes, that way it's not too much kindness.

The girl comes back. "Reyna's on her way. I don't really think it registered when I said metal dragon."

Reyna is looking very tired when she comes, but she sees the metal dragon and her eyes widen a bit. I set my hand on fire.

"Hi, um, I'll try not to blow your camp up this time, but if you would be willing to help me get Festus up and running, just so we can get to Camp Half-Blood? It's still there, I assume. I'm pretty sure me dying saved it."

The two guards' jaws drop.

"You're alive. Oh my gods you're alive," Reyna says, taking it all in. "And, who is that?" she points at Calypso.

"That's Calypso."

"The Calypso?" Reyna asks, raising an eyebrow.

"The one and only," Calypso responds, smiling. "You know, you're taking this all in very well, considering."

Reyna suddenly seems to understand the situation, looks like the coffee finally got to her brain, and she is dragging us both to a fountain. She throws in a… drachma? But aren't those, like, Greek's only? and pretty soon we're calling Camp Half-Blood.

Chiron answers with an "I'll go ahead and let the whole camp see."

Suddenly, the entire camp is staring at us. In my best game show host voice, I say, "Leo McShizzle here, with the lovely Calypso, - don't be getting any ideas, she's taken -and we are here to tell you that I am alive and she's off Ogygia. Anymore news, Calypso?"  
"I should remind you, Mr. McShizzle, that our lovely ride Festus is in need of repair."

"And you are very right, Miss Calypso. I am planning on a full makeover - but after we get to our repair shop," I say, grinning. She raises an eyebrow. "So, Camp Half-Blood, thank you coming to see your once in a lifetime show of Leo and Calypso: Adventurers of the Universe! No, that doesn't sound right. Okay, I'll get back to you on that." The Iris message starts to flicker and then I hear Piper yell, "Leo, you are coming here right now!" and she probably had more to say, but the images fade away before I can hear any more.

"Okay, so who was that?" Calypso asks.

"That was Piper. She's just a friend, don't worry," I say, and she nods, but with a look on her face that says she's going to make sure.

"Do you need anything before you head off to Camp Half-Blood?" Reyna asks awkwardly.

"Oh yeah. First, I'm starving, and I think maybe Calypso is too, because her stomach growls louder than the wind."

"That was the wind, Mr. McShizzle," she says, elbowing me. "But yes, I am hungry."

"I knew it was your stomach!" I point at her as I say this.

"I just said it wasn't."

"Well, boo you." I stick my tongue out at her and then turn back to Reyna. "Festus needs a little bit of repair work before he can take off again without killing us all, and I think some clothes might be nice, but none of that toga business. Or anything purple. Or-"  
"You're getting purple," Reyna says with a look in her eyes that says to stop. "Or nothing at all."

"Purple's fine." I gulp and try to think of anything else we might need.

"How about some water?" Calypso asks, and Reyna nods. "And I don't need any clothes, just him. And he also needs a bath."

"I can agree to that," Reyna says with a laugh, and Calypso smiles at her.

"Guys, you're leaving me out of the conversation, and it's no fun," I tease, and Calypso crosses her arms.

"Go take a bath, right now please, and we should have some clothes for you by the time you get out," Calypso says, and I sigh.

"You are sooooo demanding." I head off to the baths and think about not smelling dead. I smile and go inside.


	3. Piper- Christmas and All that Follows

Alright. Leo is back. I breathe in and out, trying not to hyperventilate as the camp goes chaotic. Jason is instantly beside me and he wraps me in a hug.

"So, today wasn't at all eventful," he says, and I try to laugh, but it turns into a sob, and I grab his shirt to hide myself from everyone else.

"Can we go to the roof?" I whisper into his shirt, and I feel his arms tighten around me as he lifts me off the ground. Once we land on the roof, I pull back and sit down.

"Well, it's a good present, I guess."

"He had better be here tomorrow, or else I will have a talk with him once he arrives."

"About honoring the code of Christmas?" I grin at him. He glares and then makes a puppy dog face.

"Would you mind not making fun of me, please?" He says this in his 'cutest' voice, and I burst out laughing.

"Nope, you'll have to deal with it. But seriously, what would you say to him? 'Hey, I know you just died this summer, but would you mind not scaring us when you do that? Like, give us a note in advance telling when you're gonna come back so we're prepared?' What would that even do?" He sits down next to me, then jumps back up again.

"Hold on."

He goes down into his cabin and I say, "Oh, sure, don't answer my question. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT!"

He comes back out a few minutes later holding a blanket and two cups of hot cocoa. "Do you forgive me, your grace, for not answering your question?" he says as he hands me my hot cocoa, then bows with a flourish.

"Oh, I suppose I'll let you off this once," I say in my most dignified voice, then look over at him. He's grinning and he has a chocolate mustache. "Just as long as you never grow a mustache like that."

"So, uh, I got you a present," he says, pulling out a little box from under the blanket. "You can open it tonight, I just wanted you to open it when we weren't in front of everyone else."

I look at him suspiciously. "Is it your underwear, because I don't want that."

He laughs. "No, it's something a little more personal than that."

"Oh no, it's your bra!"

"Um, I don't actually wear -"

"I know, I wanted to see your reaction." Blush is creeping up on his face, and he is so red he looks like he'll explode. I laugh at him. "Oh, I got you something, too. Hold on, let me go get it." I slide off the roof and run to my cabin. I dig under my bed and find a larger box, pulling it out. Nope, that's Annabeth's. I bet Jason would so want the computer I got her, but his is more… him. I pull out the almost identical box with his name on it and shove Annabeth's present back under.

I run back to Jason's cabin and he comes down to lift me to the top. "You have to open your's first," I say.

"I brought your's out first, so you have to open your's first," he says, looking triumphant.

"And I told you to open your's first first, so you have to. Or I'll open it for you," I say, putting a finger on my chin.

"I'll go first," he says. It always works. I smile at him and hand him the present.

"I hope you'll like it," I say as he takes it.

"I couldn't dislike anything you would give me," he says, and I feel like kissing him right there, that was so sweet.

He carefully undoes the wrapping at the top. "You're supposed to tear it off like you're really excited."

"But it's wrapped so pretty, I need to keep the paper," he says, looking at me like this is very important. I stare back with a look that is hopefully saying, 'seriously?' He laughs at me, and I frown. Apparently it didn't say that.

He finally gets all the wrapping paper off - in one piece, I should say - and opens the box. He pulls out the present. "A book on Greek and Roman mythology?"

"And a Superman shirt is in there somewhere," I say, and he laughs.

"It's… It's great. Thank you, Pipes." He leans in and kisses me quickly.

I smile at him. "It was nothing. But I went ahead and got you another present for when we're with everyone else."

"I got you another one as well," he says as I pick up the present he gave me earlier. I tear off the wrapping paper and he winces.

"You aren't being gentle with the paper, Piper!" I glare at him after he says this.

"Well, let me go buy it a crib." Now we're both glaring at each other. I quickly break away and go back to the present at hand. I open the box and find another box inside it. "Oh, good. I get boxes!" I open up that box and find lots of air packages. "Ooh, and air! My favorite present!" He laughs as I set the air packages in between the boxes' sides. I pull out a feather necklace and put it on, then grab at what is hopefully the last box. It is also wrapped and I carefully take off the wrapping paper for Jason's sake. "Oh, wow," I say as I pull out the book from it's box. "All the Cherokee myths, then?" I look at him.

"And open it up," he says, looking really excited. I do, and I find a note from him in it.

Piper,

You have been the joy in my world these past few months. Everytime I see you, I get this giddy feeling inside my chest and I try so hard to contain it. I can't imagine spending a single day without you and I don't know what I would do if I had to. I'm so glad I met you, and so very glad you're always there when I need you. I love you.

Jason

"Oh. Okay, well, sorry I didn't do something more exciting for your present, but, thank you. And, Jason?" I say, looking at him.

"Yes?" He looks at me kind of nervously.

"I love you, too," I pull him in to kiss him.

Once I pull back, he says, "I could do with another one of those," and I kiss him on the cheek.

"That's all you get tonight," but I smile at him and put the note back in the book, the book back in its box, and all the wrapping paper in the bigger boxes.

"Here, let me help you," he grabs the bigger boxes and puts his present in them. "I'll keep them in my cabin unless you want them."

"Go ahead and keep them, I don't really have any use for big boxes."

"I thought you said boxes were just what you wanted," he replies and smiles at me. I don't think either of us have smiled so much in one night since… Since before Percy's nosebleed and Gaea returning. I'm fine with it. I hope for many more.

"Goodnight, Jason," I say as I turn around to slide off the roof.

"Goodnight, Pipes. See you in the morning." I land on the ground, and look back to see Jason smiling at me. I smile back and wave.

"See you," I whisper as I turn back and head to my cabin. I put my present under my bed and get ready. No one else is back yet, and I'm really surprised. I would imagine Chiron would have everyone go back to their cabins. I go into the bathroom and find everyone there.

"Okay, guys. Out of the bathroom."

"But it's the best place to see -"

"Shut up, don't tell her!"

"Best place to see the roof of Cabin One? I know, no surprise. Of course you were spying on us, but now you've seen all there is to see, so go to bed. I need to get ready for bed now."

They all leave, making sad faces. I roll my eyes at them and get my toothbrush out.

"Wake up, wake up, it's Christmas!" I open my eyes to see my whole cabin standing by my bed, with Jillian holding a bouquet of paper flowers.

"We all made it for you," she says, and I smile at her.

"Thank you guys!" I set it on my bed and reach under. I pull out a box and set it on my bed. "I made everyone something, I hope everyone likes theirs!" I hand everyone a card with their names on it - even Drew - and they each had some chocolate taped to the front. Not anything big, but I had wanted to give my siblings something. A chorus of thank yous came as I handed everyone their cards.

"You should open all your flowers," Greg said as I handed him his.

"Alright, thank you," I replied and continued giving them out. Once I had finished, I opened all my flowers. Everyone had written notes to me on them, and I smiled, reading several. I read Drew's in the first few, and was surprised she could be so nice.

We all headed to breakfast shortly after and nothing too eventful happened. Chiron wished us all a Merry Christmas and then it started raining presents. No biggy.

After breakfast, Percy ran up to me and said, "We're exchanging gifts in my cabin right now, so come quickly!" He looked really excited and, I noticed, was still in his blue pajamas.

I ran to my cabin and grabbed all their presents, throwing them into a sack and headed off to Percy's cabin. When I got there, I was more surprised than I should have been.

"LEO VALDEZ, WE BURNED YOUR SHRINE. YOU HAD BETTER HAVE PRESENTS FOR US." I shout at Leo, who is sitting calmly and cleanly on a bunk with a female I have never seen before.

"I like her. Are all your friends normally like this?" the girl asks.

"Nope. That's Piper, A.K.A Beauty Queen and she can get worked up at times," Leo says, and I slap him.

"Do. Not. Die. Ever. Again," I glare at him, and sit down next to the female.

"I'm Calypso," she says.

"Piper, and nobody is allowed to call me 'Beauty Queen', but Leo over there does it anyways. "Did he get presents? If he didn't I will slap him again."

"Whoa, hold your horses, Nellie! I got presents. Um, hold on." He exits the room.

"Reyna told us it was almost Christmas, and I got the pleasure of Christmas shopping for the first time. And he made me close my eyes for part of it, it was really quite funny. I don't really know where he got the money from. Leo, we didn't steal anything, did we?"

"Just one thing, don't worry," he grinned at her.

"Well, I hope it wasn't mine," she says, and I laugh. I open my sack and start to distribute presents as the others are filing in. We all sit down on the floor in a circle and everyone opens the presents from me first. Percy starts, since it's his cabin, and he is very much delighted.

"I got a blue sweater and blue cupcakes! In blue wrapping paper. This is very awesome!" He grins and Annabeth rolls her eyes at him.

Annabeth goes next, and gasps when she opens it. "Um, Piper? You're sure this is for me and not someone else?" I nod, and Percy comes to look.

"Well, my present was better than a dumb grey laptop and grey sweater, because mine's blue," he says, pouting. She laughs and slaps him playfully on the shoulder.

"I'm sure it was much better than mine, Mr. Jackson," she replies, and I feel super giddy. Oh, they should just get married already! Wait, no, I think, inner Aphrodite, go back to where you came from. But I can't help grinning at the cuteness.

"Um, if you two can stop flirting, then I will be going next," Frank says, looking really uncomfortable.

"Alright Frank, if you say so," Annabeth says, and smiles at him. He opens his up without tearing the wrapping paper like Jason did last night, and I roll my eyes. Those Romans sure are slow. "Ah, a pack of Chinese handcuffs, a book on iguanas, and a green sweater. Thanks, Piper," we all laugh when he holds up the Chinese handcuffs.

"Sorry, I had to do that. But open up the book," I say, and he opens it up to a fifty dollar bill. He raises his eyebrow. I smile and he shuts the book back, looking as satisfied as he can possibly look at the moment.

"So, my turn?" Hazel asks, and Percy looks happy.

"Open it, Hazel, you need to open mine next, it's exciting," Percy says.

"Alright then, if you say so," and she starts to unwrap it. "Oh, cool!" She pulls out a book called The Horse and the Artist. She next pulled out a creme sweater. "I love it, thank you Piper!"

Next was Jason. He opened it carefully again, as he always does. "It's an SPQR sweater. Cool."

"Turn it inside out," I say, and he does.

"And Camp-Half Blood on the other side. Where did you find this?"

"I have a few friends that could make it for you."

"And the best present giver goes to Piper," Leo says.

"Hold up, you have one too," I tell him, pulling out another box.

"But… Okay, why?"

"I don't think I could ever not get you one, even if you were dead."

He opens it up to find a gold sweater and some tools. "Alright, you seriously got me this? And it wasn't, like, last minute?"

"Yes and nope. Sorry, Calypso, I didn't know you would be here, or else I would have gotten you something."

She smiles. "It's fine, I've gone long enough without presents. I think I can go one more year."

"Okay, now everyone open their presents from me!" Percy says, handing everyone theirs quickly. "Annabeth, go last."

"Alright, then," Annabeth says, smiling at him.

"And I didn't get you anything, Leo. How about blue pizza?"

"I could do with some pizza, blue or not," Leo replies, and so Percy quickly goes to his refrigerator that I didn't know he had.

"You'll have to heat it up yourself, but I think you'll be fine with that," Percy says. "Frank buddy, go first."

Frank opens his up and I miss what his present was, but it must've been good, because he says, "Wow, thanks, Percy! I've always wanted one of these."

Next is Hazel. She unwraps hers, and inhales quickly. "Aren't these really expensive?" She's holding a box of really nice looking markers, but I can't see what the brand is.

"Eh. Not too expensive, or else you wouldn't have any."

Jason opens his present next. "Dude, three pizza boxes? And a pillow? I love you, bro."

"Aw, love you too!" Annabeth and I look at each other and she raises an eyebrow. I shrug unknowingly, and Jason and Percy look back and forth between the two of us.

"Alright, now I get to open mine?" I ask, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Yeah, yeah!" Percy says, bouncing in his seat. He's really such a little kid to be a legal adult now. I really don't want to think about that.

I open it up to find a new snowboarding jacket. "This is really cool!" I say, and he smiles.

"I hoped you would like it! And now it's Annabeth's turn," he says, getting really still in his seat and looking kind of scared.

"I'm not going to reject your present, Percy," Annabeth says, laughing.

"You might, though," Percy says, and she gives him a confused look.

"Alright then." She takes off the wrapping paper and opens a large cardboard box.

"Oh, gods, Percy." She puts a shaky hand into her box and pulls out a ring box. I feel my jaw drop.

"Annabeth Chase," Percy says, taking the box from her hands and getting down on one knee. "Will you do me the favor of marrying me?"

**HAHA BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT! DID YOU, DID YOU? Pfft, no. Of course not. Because they were just opening presents, duh.**

**So! I haven't actually written anything after this, I'll start an updating schedule soon (so, like, I'll update this regularly [try saying that out loud, it's a tongue twister. Regularly regularly regularly] every two weeks and I'll figure out a day for it.) **

**Did you guys like it? *fingers crossed***


	4. Frank - Aaaand Everyone else is ADHD

Well, that was unexpected.

"Uhm, Percy?" Annabeth says, looking like she's about to have a heart attack.

"You don't have to, it was a suggestion, that's all. Oh what was I thinking, that was really dumb," he says, eyes wide, closing the ring box and getting super shaky.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Annabeth grabs his wrists, and he looks like he's about to pass out. Poor guy. I look at Hazel, and her jaw is on the ground. Piper is flapping around, and Calypso is looking at Leo with a weirded out look, while Leo is on fire and Jason looks... jealous? I don't know, something. I bet it's just that he wishes he had thought of that idea.

"Wh- What did you mean? Oh gods, now I look like an idiot. You're gonna say no, aren't you?" Percy starts looking really sad.

Annabeth kisses him and Piper squeals. Jason slaps her knee, and she quickly whispers, "Sorry, inner Aphrodite!" I put my hands over my mouth.

I am pretty sure we're watching some reality TV.

"Percy, you always look like an idiot. And no."

"Oh..."

"I will do you the favor of marrying you."

"What, but you just said no, I thought?" he bounces up and down really excitedly.

"I said no to you saying I would say no, which means I was actually saying yes, Seaweed Brain." He pulls her in for a kiss, and then she taps on his shoulder.

"What?" he moans.

"There are other people around, we can't do this here."

"We don't mind!" I say along with Piper and Hazel, and Jason quickly agrees.

"Should we leave? After all, this _is _your cabin, Percy," Leo says, looking really uncomfortable.

"Uh, leave if you want to?" Everyone starts to get up to leave except for Piper, whom Jason has to pick up to get her out. She complains and says she wants to see what's happening, but Jason shuts her up with a kiss, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't mind.

Hazel comes up to me. "So, I guess tonight's a night of happy endings for all?" I shrug.

"I guess?" I say, not sure of what to do. I get really nervous around her, like if I do something wrong she won't like me anymore. "Here, do you need help getting all your presents?" I ask, and she smiles.

"Sure! But you have quite a bit yourself, are you sure you can handle it?" she winks, and I grin.

"I sure hope so." I start to gather up my presents and she does the same. I grab a few of hers once I've finished with mine. We head to Hades's Cabin, where she's staying for Christmas, and I set her presents down. I start to head off to Ares's Cabin, where I doubt I'll be welcomed. Clarisse seems to hate me. A lot.

I set all my presents down and collapse on my bed. No one else is in the cabin, I assume they're all at other cabins unwrapping presents with their friends and whatnot.

There's a knock at the door and I groan. I open it, and there's Hazel.

"Hey, you forgot something in my cabin." she says, coming in.

"Oh?" I say, and she nods.

"It's something very important."

"What is it?" I ask. She pulls me down and kisses me, short and sweet.

"That." She laughs at what I assume is the most shocked look anyone has ever had. "Was it that bad?" she says, grinning, and I can feel the blush creeping up into my cheeks.

"No! Not at all, it was-" I stop mid-sentence, figuring out what she was playing at. "Oh. Well, you aren't a bad kisser, I should have you know." She kisses my cheek and then walks off.

"See ya later!" she calls as she closes the door. I wave sheepishly and then pat my cheek, making sure it was feel.

I fall asleep with a huge grin on my face.

I wake up being punched in the stomach. "Hey, kid. It's lunch time. You've been snoozing all day, mumbling about some 'magical kiss'. Let me get one thing straight in your head. You. Will. Not. Talk. About. Magical kisses. Anywhere near me, even in your sleep! I don't care about whether or not you can control it, but I don't freaking care. Got it?"

" 'Kay, Clarisse. Sorry I bothered you," I say, grumbling. She rolls her eyes.

"Be glad I even woke you up for lunch."

I swing me legs off the bed and rub my eyes. _Gods, it's bright in here. _I start to stand up, hitting my head on the bunk above mine. "Ah," I gasp, rubbing the back of my head a bit. Clarisse is still standing there, judging every move I make.

"Ya know, for an Ares kid, you're a wimp. Ya sure you're in the right cabin?" I glare at her and make my way to the dining pavilion. When I get close, I hear roaring sounds of laughter, shouting, and other typical noises at a dining pavilion filled with hundreds of demigods. I get my food and sacrifice to Mars - Ares - and then go eat my food. I sit down as far away as possible from Clarisse, and she rolls her eyes. She tends to do that a lot, and I really don't like it. I catch Hazel's eye and she smiles and waves before going back into what I assume is a very serious conversation with Nico. I look around and see the others of the Seven, and Annabeth has gone over to Percy, and whispered something in his ear. The sun catches on her ring - _gods, that'll take some getting used to _\- and a few of Venus's kids squeal _way _too loudly. Piper shushes them all, and they all slap each other, I assume gossiping about Percy and Annabeth. Piper rolls her eyes, and I figure that's a Camp Half-Blood thing, almost everyone does it every five seconds.

After lunch, Leo comes up to me. "My man! Frank!" I glare at him. "Not my man. Just Frank. Okaay... So, uh, we're meeting in Percy's cabin again for some more news."

"Thanks," I say, rubbing him over the head. "Hey, I'm glad you're alive."

"Man, I am too!" Leo says, grinning, and then pulling out some metal from his belt and toying around. He heads off, and I head to Percy's cabin.

"Hey, do you know why Leo asked us to come here?" Hazel asks as soon as I get in.

"I dunno. He said news of some sort. Maybe he's gonna throw a 'hey guys I'm alive' party," Hazel laughs when I say this, and I smile to myself.

"I don't think that's actually going to be it, but sure!" Hazel, says, elbowing me in the side. I sit down on one of the bunks and Hazel sits next to me. Eventually, everyone except for Leo and Calypso are here - including Nico, who didn't want to be part of gifting activities - and we're all awkwardly staring at the floor. At least, I assume everyone else is. That's what I'm doing.

After what feels like a lifetime, the door bursts open, and Leo is wearing... A pink feather boa, a sombrero, some multi-colored shorts, and a Camp Half-Blood shirt underneath a... Leather jacket. _Who told him how to dress?_ Calypso is standing behind him in perfectly normal clothing and looking a bit embarrassed.

"I have gathered you all here today for something very important," Leo says, trying to look like a businessman with his posture. _How... ? _

Percy raises his eyebrows. "Dude, seriously? That's, like... What? Uhm. Well, just, continue," he rubs his forehead in a worried gesture.

"Do not question, child. Eh hem!" Leo says, straightening, and then bursting into laughter. "Okay, I'm sorry, I can't take you guys seriously. Well, no more formal-ness stuff. I am only gonna be here to, ya know, repair good old Festus. And then," he turns to Calypso and breaks into song. "I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid!"

I wince in pain, and Calypso covers her ears. "No! You are not allowed to sing!" Leo then frowns.

"I do what I want!" he replies, suddenly becoming four.

"Well, for the safety of the known universe, I suggest you not sing," Calypso responds, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Wait, so what did you gather us here for, again?" Jason asks, looking severely confused.

"Oh, uh, we're leaving. After Festus is fixed."

"Uh-huh. And what makes you think I give you permission?" Piper says, standing up.

"Uhm..." Leo looks slightly scared.

"You are going to take me with you, mister. I don't care what you say."

"Yes, ma'am."

Piper glares at him, and Leo gulps.

"Okay, well, let's just... Be friends, no fighting, intimidating, or getting off subject like the ADHD people we are. Minus lactose intolerant boy over there."

I glare at Leo, and then turn into a bear. On accident, it just kind of happens at times. After this, Leo runs out screaming - exceedingly high-pitched, might I add - and Percy starts laughing.

"My man!" I turn back into my normal self and Percy pats me on the back.

Everyone else is just staring at me. "Um, Frank?" Piper says, and then points behind me. I turn around. _Well, crap. _I broke the bunk.

**So, all of you guys have posted such wonderful and supportive reviews on this story, and I'm just like _they love me. They have accepted me as one of them._**

**Seriously, I'm honored.  
**

**So, this chapter was really just... there to be there. And to get to the action part of the story. Yep. So, enjoy. **

**Also... I didn't understand the review about the shroud/shrine thing... what were you trying to say? I feel like maybe a few words were left out. I would answer/fix if needed if I understood thing.**

**Sorry, I need sleep, so if this chapter doesn't make much sense, then... Well, it doesn't make sense. TELL ME IF YOU FIND ANY GRAMMAR OR SPELLING ISSUES ANYWHERE! (Except for, in, like, speech and stuff. Like, don't say, "it's spelled 'um', not 'uhm'" because then I will read it in this high pitched, cheerleader voice, and I will ignore it. Sorry, guys, I just write 'uhm'. It is what I do, do not doubt me.**

**ANYWAYSSSSSS...**

**Ignore me, I'm just gonna go to sleep now.**

**ALSO - I was going to write for a DW fanfic on Wattpad that several people had been asking me to update, but I updated this instead. BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE WAY COOLER (actually, the level of cool is the same, but, I just felt like writing more to this one. Yep.) SO I WROTE MORE TO THIS INSTEAD.**

**And I think I dug myself into a little ditch that I need to get out of.**

**Anyways, OFF TO GO SLEEP.**

**Signing out,**

**OnceUponaDeath013 (Can I just sign out as OnceUponaDeath? Like, do you guys mind? Because that's how I sign out on Wattpad, and I feel weird adding the 013...)**


	5. Percy - The Tidal Wave of DOOM

My jaw falls open after the series of events that's happened. Suddenly a tidal wave comes in and sweeps Frank up.

Uh. _Dad, please don't kill Frank, it was an accident, PLEASE DON'T KILL FRANK! _I send up a quick prayer and then the tidal wave goes away. _Thanks, Dad. _I sigh from relief.

And then the tidal wave comes again. _Um, please, Dad, I don't know what you're doing, but please please please don't kill Frank._

And then it goes away. "Frank, get out of here quickly," I say, and he runs out of the cabin, my floor soaking up all the water that dripped off Frank, and I follow him outside.

I have to admit, that was actually pretty funny. Maybe I should use that on my enemies from now on. The Tidal Wave of DOOM! That should be a book. Annabeth comes up to me, and raises her eyebrow.

"Seaweed Brain? What the heck happened to Frank?"

"The Tidal Wave of DOOOOM! Also, my dad. Ain't no one break his bunks," I say, and then lean in closer and try to frown. "Ain't no one."

"And you just killed a few of my brain cells!" Annabeth says, laughing. She elbows me in the side and kisses my cheek. "Mr. Jackson, what am I going to do with you?"

"Marry me," I say matter of fact-ly (if it wasn't a thing before it's a thing now), and pull her in for a kiss. She pulls away and laughs.

"I guess I can't back out of that one, huh?" she gets on her tiptoes and kisses my forehead. A chorus of cheering comes, and I turn around to see all Aphrodite's children running up to us.

"Oh my gods you guys are engaged I can't believe it so cute I can't even SHIIIIP," one of the campers yells, and the others all shush him.

"So, uh, you two are _engaged _engaged? Not, like, pretend engaged?" one of the campers says from the back of the crowd. _Gods, how many kids does Aphrodite have?!_

I just stand there with my arms around Annabeth's waist and probably looking like an idiot, so she pulls my hands off her waist and steps forward.

"We are..." she pauses and all the Aphrodite kids look nervous, and one yells, "just spit it out already!"

"_Engaged _engaged," Annabeth smiles at them and then grabs my hand. "Up for an underwater kiss if you are," she whispers into my ear.

I pick her up and she shrieks and laughs. I run to the lake and jump in, and then I kiss her.

"PERCY! You can't do that, that's cheating!" Annabeth shouts.

"Well, would you look at that! I know something you don't know!" I yell back, rapidly moving my fingers.

Annabeth is mad. Because _I _am beating her. At Mario Kart. Ba boomsh.

Someone knocks on the door. "Go away, we are having a serious bonding moment!" I shout at the door, and then I hear it open. Annabeth rolls her eyes at me and I roll mine back at her and smile. As I finish the final lap and win.

Turning around, I drop the Wii Remote and my jaw goes right along with it. "Um, Dad, uh, what did I do?"

"You got engaged to a child of my rival," Poseidon says.

"Well, she wouldn't be your rival if -" I start, and then I sit down.

"Would you like to continue that sentence?" Poseidon - Dad - says, and then sits down next to me. "I approve."

"You what?"

"I approve. Of Annabeth. And besides, if you love her, as you say you do, then you deserve happiness. The only problem is convincing Athena."

"Oh, um..." Annabeth says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Was this a bad idea, then?"

"Not at all. She was simply in a bad mood when he decided to propose and now she is in an even worse mood, but she'll probably become all chummy with the idea. Later on... You made me proud, son."

He starts to exit the room, and then turns around and says, "I wouldn't have killed him, don't worry. Just having a little bit of fun."

"Wow," I say once he has left.

"That's not an everyday event. At least, it's not for me, it might be for you..." Annabeth rambles on and I'm not really paying attention and just staring at the door with my jaw dropped.

"Annabeth?"

"Yes?"

"It's not an everyday event. You can stop now," I say, and fall over on the bunk that I had landed on, and whack my head on a board that Frank had broken out of place, _yaaay _for awesome Chinese Canadian bear friends.

Annabeth comes over and pulls me off the bed and puts me on another, less broken, bunk. "We should really get that fixed."

"Eh. Leo can do it."

"He's busy working on a dragon," Annabeth reminds me, coming over and curling up beside me.

"Get Jake."

"You do it, I'm too busy sleeping."

I groan, and then get up. "Well, don't over-exert yourself."

She smiles and tosses a pillow at me. I grin, and head off to find Jake.

"That's it, I think," Jake says, and I look at the new and improved bed.

"Well... Okay, that's fancy," I say, looking at it.

"Merry Christmas, Percy, Merry Christmas, Annabeth!" he says before he exits.

"Holy Hephaestus, it's still Christmas!" I leap off of the ground and pick Annabeth up, then set her down, realizing that was probably not the best idea. She shoves me, and then sticks her tongue out.

"We have to drink hot cocoa and wear mittens and go buy ugly sweaters and stuff!" I start bouncing.

"Oh my gods, Percy. Can I just tell you how cute that is?" Annabeth puts her hands on my shoulders and I stop bouncing, then she kisses my forehead, and I smile.

"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!?" I grab her hand, and, without waiting for an answer, drag her out the door and practically leap to the Big House, and run into Chiron.

"Percy, what are you doing here?" he asks.

"We need hot cocoa and mittens and sweaters!" I wave my arms around frantically, and Annabeth grabs one of them.

"Percy, calm down. He wants hot coca and mittens, and we already have sweaters, but I think he's forgotten about that-"

"Oh my gods, we have sweaters!" I run back to my cabin and pull out my sweater and find Annabeth's on the ground near it, and bring them out. "WE HAVE SWEATERS!" I yell out at them.

"I'm not really sure what's gotten into him," I hear Annabeth say, and Chiron just shakes his head.

"I believe I can get you two some hot cider, Dionysus goes crazy over it at this time of year."

Chiron leaves, and I tap my toes on the ground impatiently.

"Percy, wake up!" I open my eyes to see Annabeth sitting on the ground next to my bed.

"What is it?" I ask, rubbing my eyes and stretching.

"Do you want to miss seeing our friend off?" she grabs my hand and pulls me up, then throws a shirt at me.

"That's today?" I ask, putting the shirt on and stumbling over to her.

"Yep. I can't believe you forgot. I half expect you to forget our wedding day and come in late," she grins at me and throws some shorts at me. "You can't go in your boxers, no matter how much you want to."

"Hi, guys!" Leo says once Annabeth and I arrive last. He's on top of Festus with Calypso behind him, arms wrapped around his waist. She whispers something in his ear and he laughs, says something, and then gets slapped by Calypso.

"No!" she shouts, and then he grins and they take off, waving at us.

Piper screams up at them, "Don't forget to visit often!"

Annabeth elbows me in the side, and I smile at her.

"What do _you _think?" Annabeth asks me, leaning on my arm.

"I dunno. They deserve each other, I guess," I say, resting my chin on her head.

And I believe it.

**Alright. Sorry it took so long to get this crap out. I hope you like it? I haven't gone through to read it, sooo...**

**Hey! You know last time when I said that you and Wattpadians were the same level of cool?**

**I lied.**

**You guys are cooler.**

**(Just don't tell them I said that)**

**Because more people read my stories on here, and actually, like, give me feedback.**

**Seriously.**

**You guys are awesome.**

**Anyways, let me know what you thought! I love it when you guys talk to me! AND I WILL RESPOND TO PMs IF YOU SEND ME ONE.**

**It may take some time, but I will respond.**

**Love you guys!**

**Signing out,**

**OnceUponaDeath (yeah I'm just gonna sign out like that...)**

**Next Time, on TAOSAM - **

**Calypso and Leo journey... to... somewhere. I haven't actually decided yet. BUT IT'LL BE AWESOME. ADVENTURE AND CALEO AND STUFF AND BOOM. So stay tuned! (Hopefully it will come out sooner... But I tend to procrastinate...)**


	6. Calypso - The Fair is NOT Like Ogygia

"So, I'm assuming you've never had a hot dog _or _a hamburger. Which is a great misfortune, and we must do something about that," Leo says as I tilt my head back to look at the sky.

"Nope, never heard of them. Do you actually eat _dogs?_" I ask, very concerned.

"Yes, Sunshine, that's exactly what we eat on a daily basis."

I can hear the sarcasm dripping off that sentence and nod my head. "Then, what is it?"

"I'm not gonna say until you eat one."

I wrinkle my nose, already thinking up plenty of disgusting things a 'hot dog' could be made of.

"Octopus? Frog? _Cat?_"

"Nope, nope, nope."

I sigh at this answer and make a mental list of things I will never eat. In a few minutes, he lands Festus in a small clearing away from the 'city'. Last I saw of the city, it looked nothing like what I remembered from my days before Ogygia.

"Pig."

"A hot _dog _is made from _pig?_ Why isn't it a hot pig instead?"

"That doesn't sound very appetizing when you say it like that."

"Well, neither does hot dog. Americans are weird."

"You realize I'm an American, right?"

"Point proven, then. And - what is _that?_" I point at a tall, swirly looking red thing.

"_That,_" Leo says, putting his hands on his hips, "is a roller coaster, and it is in a fair, and we are going to ride it since you asked."

"You... What?" I look at him back at the 'roller coaster' and then back at him. "You mean to say you get _on _that thing, like you do a boat, or Festus?"

"Yep." I blink a couple times.

"Is it safe?"

"Safer than riding a mechanical dragon around."

I start to say something, but then I can't think of how to respond to that. "Okay, then. Let's go."

Do. Not. Ever. Get on a roller coaster after having just eaten a hot dog. It is a terrible experience. I stumble off the ride after Leo, who is grinning from ear to ear. "Wasn't that fu- oh."

I grab onto his shoulder. "We are never doing that again."

"Cotton candy to make up for it?" he asks, and I raise an eyebrow.

"What is that?"

"Something you need to try right now."

He drags me over to what he earlier told me was a concession stand, and orders - I guess? Do you 'order' at a concession stand, or do you just buy it? - cotton candy, which looks expensive, although since I don't know this time period, I can't really say. Shortly after, pink fluffiness on a stick appears and Leo grins at me. "Did you know this is her first time having cotton candy?" he says to the lady at the stand.

She kind of blinks for a couple of seconds at me before saying, "Are you sure?" He nods. "Well, you better have a taste right now."

I look around. "Is it bad?"

"It's just fluffy sugar, trust me, it's amazing."

"I will trust you for now, but if I die, it's your fault."

He tears off a piece and hands it to me. It melts in my mouth and sticks to the roof of my mouth as I try to get it off. Once I finish, I say, "I can physically feel it staining my teeth, do some people eat this on a daily basis?"

"Yes, dear, welcome to America." I roll my eyes and kiss his cheek. "Hey, do you mind giving another one of those, but here?" he taps his mouth.

"Maybe later. What should we do now?"

"Kiss?"

"No."

"Darn. Okay, uhh, you didn't like the roller coaster... I think we're done at the fair, let's go to the PARK!"

"Is the park like the fair?"

"Nope, it's got more fun things, like slides and swings and the really awesome spinny things!"

"Sounds like a headache to me."

"Does everywhere have one of these?" I ask as I hop off what Leo labeled the spinny thing.

"Almost everywhere has a park, and lots of parks have spinny things."

"Let's visit every park there is."

"That's ambitious."

"You just don't want to do it because you like the fair better," I say, sticking my tongue out at him. "This is the most fun thing _ever._"

I run up the stairs to the big slide here, and slide down. Leo is at the bottom and he picks me up.

"You should swing. That's my favorite park of the park."

"Really? You don't like the spinny things best? The swings must be a real blast." I leap out of his arms (that's a weird sentence) and run over to the swings, hopping on one. "It doesn't do anything!"

"Yes it does! You just have to swing your legs, that's why it's called a swing."

I start to 'swing' my legs and it begins moving. "This is... surprisingly fun. Why were these not invented sooner?"

"I know, right? Well, actually, I can't say that, since I wasn't alive in ancient Greece times... How old are you, actually?"

"I'm not really sure? Because of Ogygia."

"You were alive when Archimedes was?" I turn my head to the left to see a red-headed girl, looking maybe 13.

"Uh... mm... K?" I say.

"You're supposed to give an actual answer when someone asks you a question. Yes or no?"

"Before that, actually," I reply, and hear Leo groan.

"Huh. Turns out my best friend's a satyr, and I'm not supposed to tell anyone that, but figured you are an exception, Calypso."

"I... Uh, erm, how?" I ask, but when I look back from Leo, she's gone.

"Do you think you could top today off?" I ask, leaning on Leo's chest.

"Pssh, sure! What all did we do today?" he asks with a yawn.

"We ate hot pigs-"

"Dogs."

"They're pigs! We went to the fair and had cotton candy, we went to the park and met creepy red haired chick, and we had a nap."

"I dunno, that nap would be pretty hard to top off. But I think a kiss tomorrow might do it."

"Just because you said so, then."

"Great, can I have one right now?" I roll my eyes.

"No thanks, you need another shower."

"Well, so do you! And showers are a luxury we can't always afford."

"Oh, I see. You can't just go in the river?"

"That would be interesting, but typically you shower inside. Now can I have a kiss?" I roll over and lay on top of him, crossing my arms on his chest.

"Since you asked so politely. But just one."

"Uh-oh, better make it long."

I peck his cheek.

"That is not what we bargained for!"

"You just asked for a kiss, that's what I gave you! Be satisfied with what you get, or else you won't get anything!"

He wraps his arms around my waist. "I think I deserve a _real _kiss."

"Noo," I say, tapping his nose.

"I took you to the _park _and fed you, too!" I roll my eyes.

"_Fiine._"

I pull him in for a kiss.

**Thank you to HoOisawesome for the suggestion of hot dogs! That actually got this entire chapter written. So, I'm about to read The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, which, I hope you know, features Calypso. Although, from what I understand, she kidnaps Odysseus? So, not our dear Calypso. But, with that said, I may not update soon.**

**Now that school is out, I am able to write more, and that's what this is. So I'm gonna try and update at least once a month, probably more, but I have more fanfics going on on Wattpad, and I also have a life outside of writing (like reading and drawing and eating and sleeping).**

**So, tada! I think another name for this chapter should be Caleo Fluff...**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Thanks for sticking with me through this really long wait! And, as always, I really enjoy your feedback! I just caught something before I posted this, and I had written 'i begins' without capitalization or anything so not sure if I was trying to write 'it begins' or 'I begin'. It's when she's swinging...**

**Besides all that, a million thanks!**

**OnceUponaDeath**

***cue dramatic thunder from outside***


	7. Leo - I Don't Think I Signed Up For This

And then someone interrupted us.

Boo. It was a really good kiss.

"Whaddaya want?" I ask, standing up and turning around to see a thing. "Boo you, monster!"

The thing is a lion with a snake for a tail and a goat. Whoo hoo. "A chimera," Calypso says, standing up beside me.

I walk forward and set myself on fire. It doesn't really do anything when I do that, so I charge into it, which isn't the best idea I've ever had. And then it breaths fire at me.

It kind of snarls through its lion mouth, and I kind of laugh at it. Calypso punches me in the arm. "That is not the appropriate response, you're supposed to _kill _it, not just agitate it!"

"Well, I don't see you trying!"

"Fine!" she says, climbing on top of Festus and getting him to go up in the air.

"You left me down here!" I shout, looking back at the chimera.

"You'll be fine, you're fire proof!" she shouts.

The chimera comes toward me and I fiddle around with some scraps, and end up with a spear thing that I have no idea how to use. I decide to just throw it at the thing, and I do, but it bites it with the snake head tail thing, and flings it away from me. It charges at me, and I run away from it.

"This is anything but a good plan!" I shout, and then a dagger falls into the back of the chimera, and it falls over. I run over, grab the spear, and finish it off. Calypso lands with Festus, and I look at her.

"Did you see that, a dagger just fell from the sky!"

"Yeah, that I threw, idiot."

"Oh. Well, thanks? Where did you get the dagger?"

"If you're trapped on an island by yourself, you never know what might happen. So you prepare for anything. That was part of my preparing."

"But where did you keep it?"

She rolls her eyes at me. "In my locker."

"You have a locker?"

"Gods, you're dumber than I thought. No. Use your brain."

I open my mouth to say something, and then I close it, because I don't really want to get in an argument with this girl. Instead I say, "Okay."

She goes over to the ground where the chimera was and picks up her dagger and the goat's horn.

"So, um, are we dating?"

"Dating?" she asks, turning back around to face me.

"Yeah, um, are we a thing?"

"Well, we're both solid, I think. We're both alive. So, yes, we are a thing?"

"No, I mean, are we together? Like, are we... Are you my girlfriend?" I ask, feeling really awkward.

"Oh, um, like Annabeth is to Percy?"

"Well, now they're engaged, but before that, yeah."

"Yes, we are, I guess. Why?"

"I just wanted to be able to say my girlfriend kicks butt."

"Well, thanks, I guess. That's a sweet thought."

"So, uh, the chimera? What about more monsters, will they be around?"

"Probably. But I'm tired right now."

"Will a crappy joke help you fall asleep?"

"Maybe."

"Alright. So, what does the chicken say?" I ask as she walks over to me and rubs her eyes. She then looks at me with an 'are you serious' expression. "Bacawk!"

She yawns and sits down next to me. "That was awful. Don't tell it at parties."

"Yes, ma'am," I say as she curls up and puts her head on my shoulder.

"So, is there anything you _really _want to do?"

"Change clothes, clean my teeth, go to the park, sleep, go to the park..."

"Alright. You go change clothes somewhere and I will find us a park," I say, and she rolls her eyes.

Once she disappears, I pull out a map that I found which has all bigger parks in the state labeled. There are a lot, and I'm pretty sure we aren't going to make it to all of these in just one lifetime.

I find the one I think we went to and x it out, finding another one near us.

Calypso comes back, wet, and in a new change of clothes. "Great, now we can go!"

"You need to rinse off," she says, and I stick my tongue out at her. She smiles and then dunks a bucket of water on my head.

I sputter, and stand up. "Where did you get the bucket?"

"Like I said, I prepare for all kinds of situations."

"But why would you need a bucket?"

"I found it by the river, dufus."

I grab the bucket from her hands and run back to the river, and Calypso runs after me. I try and fill it up before she makes it to me, but she manages to get there fast enough, and runs in the water, splashing me with it. She laughs as I fling the water I'd picked up at her, then get in and start splashing her, and it ends up in a complete mess.

"This was a terrible idea!" she shrieks at me, and I cock my head a bit at her.

"What do you mean?" I splash her again.

"Well, it's winter, and cold outside."

"But I'm pretty hot, it'll be fine," I say, grinning.

"Hot enough for the both of us, then?" she says, walking out of the water and wringing her hair.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Are your clothes fire proof?"

"If you want to set me on fire, _I _am not fire proof."

"Right. So, there goes that idea. We could just stay out here and I start another fire?"

"Sure," she shrugs and hugs me. "You _are _warm."

"What did I tell ya?" I grin, wrapping an arm around her as we head back to Festus.

"How about we go and buy some hot chocolate?" I say as we're sitting by the fire.

"Do we even have money left?" She gives me a look.

"Yeah, we do, actually. Seven dollars and sixty-three cents."

"And that means?"

"That we can buy hot chocolate!" She frowns. "And end up with about five more dollars."

"Then we need to get jobs."

"We, what?"

"Jobs. That's how you earn money, right?"

"I didn't sign up for jobs."

"Is there a deadline for signing up for jobs? I'm sure we can work somewhere..."

"No, not at all, I just didn't plan on getting a job... You know we _have _food, right?" I say, and she gives me this kind of glare thing.

"Greasy things you call chips. We could start a garden."

"Let's go back to the job plan," I say. I really like my chips.

"Alright. Let's go buy that hot chocolate, and then we can find some jobs. Although we should look much more suitable for them..."

"TO THE HOT CHOCOLATE!" I yell, doing the Sokka thing.

"You're crazy, ya know?"

"We'll also watch Avatar while we're at it. You need a little bit of awesome in your life."

"Alright, Mr. McShizzle. Let's do it. After we get jobs."

"Do we really have to?"

"Unless you can come up with enough money to live off of if you keep spending it like this. And no stealing."

"I'll come up with something," I say, although I honestly have no idea.

"If you say so," she smiles at me, and we head for hot chocolate.

**So, there's that. YAAAY! Just barely made it in for this month! (Although it might not be this month by the time you read it... So happy July!)**

**Um, I had something I was gonna say, but then I forgot it.**

**Go watch Avatar is you haven't already? I guess? It's really good, Sokka is my favorite character (To the library is the thing he says that I was referencing, hopefully you got that, just didn't want any confusion, lol.)**

**So, bye? I'll probably remember the thing as soon as I post this.**


	8. Calypso - A New Quest Begins

The hot chocolate is delicious. I sigh and smile at Leo, who has a mustache from it. "You know, I noticed some 'Now Hiring' signs back there, do you know who pays the best?"

He laughs and wipes the mustache off my face, saying, "We aren't getting any jobs, or growing any gardens."

"Well, you certainly are lazy."

He grins and takes another sip. "Just the way I like it!" I roll my eyes and take a drink.

"So, if you don't expect to get a job, what are you planning on doing?"

"Just travelling. Since we don't have to pay to travel, it's much less expensive and it's not like we're going to need much money anyways."

"Because you're a thief?" I ask, looking at him skeptically.

"No! That's for Hermes' children, not a noble son of Hephaestus like me!" I snort and he looks at me very seriously. "Do you doubt my honor?"

"Of course not," I say with a smirk and he playfully shoves my shoulder.

I laugh at him as he struts over to Festus and pets the dragon. "You see, I built this fella. If I didn't have honor, do you think I could do that?"

"Yes. The two are not related at all." He pouts, and then an Iris message comes in. Piper is standing in front of them, looking worried.

"You guys need to come back to Camp Jupiter right now."

"What is it?" Leo says, and I walk up to him.

"Just - come." The Iris message cuts off abruptly and I look at Leo.

"This discussion will have to wait, then," I say, climbing up on Festus as Leo follows.

"You know, I thought you were scared of heights at first," he shouts to me over the wind, looking back over his shoulder.

"I figured it out!" I shot back. He nods and looks back to focus on where we're flying.

When we arrive back at Camp Jupiter, Piper runs up to us. "It's the Hunters of Artemis - they need help."

"And they want help from a man why?" Leo asks, looking at Piper suspiciously.

"I'm not sure they do, but they said to get you. Come on, let's go to the others."

"Why do they need help?" I ask, looking at her. Annabeth and Percy come up as I ask this.

Annabeth looks at Piper. "We aren't exactly sure. They said it was something they couldn't tell anyone exactly what it was about." Annabeth looks at me and smiles. "Hopefully we're good enough for this."

"Are you joking? The Fabulous Seven and my kickbutt girlfriend couldn't possibly be anything less than perfect for this job."

"Is that what we are now? The Fabulous Seven?" Piper asks, looking at Leo with an eyebrow raised. "And your kickbutt girlfriend. I'm liking you more and more." She grins at me.

"So, where are the others?" I ask, and Percy speaks up this time.

"They already went back to Camp Jupiter, Nico and Jason just left yesterday to visit."

After he said this, another Iris message popped up. Frank and Hazel appeared. "Oh, good, you're all here. The Hunters of Artemis just showed up on our doorstep and asked for our help. Were you guys going to show up anytime soon?" Hazel says, frowning.

"On our way now," Leo says, grinning. "Looks like Mr. McShizzle is back in business!" he fist pumps and Frank turns into a turtle. Hazel pokes his sudden form and says, "Please don't spastically burst into animals this entire trip. I don't want the elephant happening again."

He turns back into a human and blushes. "Sorry about that, you know I didn't mean to!" she kisses his cheek and waves at us.

"Hurry over!" The Iris message cuts out and I get on Festus with Leo, and Piper hops on.

"How much can he hold?" Annabeth asks, looking at Festus skeptically as Percy hops on.

"All of us, Mrs. Jackson," Leo says, and she glares at him. "Okay, I'm sorry!"

She gets on behind Percy and I hear him ask, "What's so wrong with being Mrs. Jackson?"

Annabeth laughs at him and wraps her arms around his waist. "Nothing at all."

When we arrive at Camp Jupiter, Jason greets us at the door. "Nico and I just got here, and heard our stay wouldn't be for very long," he said, then looked at our anxious faces. "Right, they're just down here."

We started walking and ended up running into Hazel.

"Oh, good, I was going to see if you were here yet."

"You checked ten times, Hazel."

"I got anxious!"

We follow them into a room with the rest of the people I met briefly at Camp Half-Blood, and several women I don't recognize.

One of them stands up. "Great, you're all here. And I haven't met you before, I'm Thalia."

"Calypso."

" 'Kay. Cool. First things first, we are _not _using your dragon."

Leo opens his mouth to protest, but she glares at him and he is silenced. "Now that everyone is here, we're gonna talk. We will travel in groups of three so we don't attract anything, and a Hunter will be with you the whole way through. She will explain what's going on while you are travelling."

One of the Hunters of Artemis goes up to Thalia and whispers something in her ear. Thalia nods.

"So, two people with a Hunter. The Hunters will choose."

Thalia motions to the girl who whispered in her ear, and the girls go out and choose people. Thalia chooses Jason and Piper, and I am chosen by a young brunette with a tough-looking girl.

"Hi! I'm Adelphie, and this is Clarisse," the brunette says.

"Hello. I'm Calypso. I'm not entirely sure how this works."

"That's fine!" Adelphie says as we walk out of the room, and I see Leo get picked with another girl I've never seen, and I wave at him.

"Do you have all your stuff?" Clarisse asks, crossing her arms and looking as uninterested as someone could possibly look. I nod and hold up my bag. "Do you have a weapon?" she says, looking me up and down.

"Yes, I do." I pull out my dagger and she nods.

"Good enough." I notice she has a spear in her hand, and she looks very menacing with it.

Adelphia takes us down another hallway and I don't really pay attention to where we're going, but to what she has to say. "I can't tell you any major details until we get further away from all of this, but I promise I will explain everything. Something crazy is going on." We arrive at a tunnel, and she goes in.

"We'll be following this path for a while, and then we'll split off from the main course and head to our destination. Once we split off is when I can speak."

We walk in silence for a while before I try and talk with Clarisse. "So, who's your godly parent?"

Clarisse continues to look ahead and says, "Ares." I nod.

"That's cool. So, what your favorite color?"

"Shut up." I nod. _Or, I could do that. Whatever._

Adelphia's face lights up when we reach a door at the end, and says, "This is it! From here we go above ground."

"And then you'll explain what we're even doing here?" Clarisse says.

"Yes. I promise we didn't bring you out here for nothing. If Thalia thought we could handle this on our own, we would have." She opens the door, and a set of old-looking stairs await us, along with blinding light. I put my arm above my eyes and try to block it.

Adelphia begins walking up the stairs, and I see that another group is in front of us, just at the top of the stairs.

When the three of us reach the top, Adelphia guides us to the left, and begins talking. "Someone is growing monsters."

**Dun dun dun, cliffhanger!**

**Alright, I forget what I told you last time, but my mom has grounded me from the computer (she thinks I spend too much time on it, and she's right), but she has decided to allow 2 hours a day.**

**If you find any mistakes with ANYTHING please PM me, or put it in the reviews, I'm a bit rusty because I've read so many books since I read this and I found myself asking, "Wait, how does that work again? Did they do that? Who was that again?" about a lot of things, so I'm going to re-read them soon.**

**I'm also trying to squeeze in two more updates before August 20th, but it might not happen because I am terrible under pressure with deadlines (that I set myself... Maybe I should just not try and plan these things ahead?) so please don't expect them. I actually might get to it, but just in case!**

**I'll try and write as much as possible and get at least one update in for August!**

**Once again, thank you all for your sweet reviews! They all make me smile (although sometimes I'm a little confused with them) and I'm so glad all of you have decided to read my story!**

**I also have looked at the cover of this and find I am horrified by the artwork. If I can find the time, I will work on a new one. (And then be horrified with that in a month or two.)**

**OnceUponaDeath**


	9. Piper - New Creatures

"What?" Jason asks, wrinkling his forehead. "Why would they be growing monsters? And how?"

"We're not sure. Have you noticed any monsters around you?" Thalia says, looking at her brother.

"It feels like less than normal, but I figured that was because we fixed the Doors of Death and are done with our quest," I say.

"Right. You two haven't been in the field as much since then. Well, it started about two weeks ago. We were in general saving people when Hermes came and took Artemis aside.

"She came back and told us we were needed on a mission. She explained that there were new monsters. That someone has been breeding and growing monsters from scratch. We're not really sure why, and the gods can't explain it either. So we've been sent to figure out where this is happening, and who is doing it."

"Wouldn't _someone _sense such a large presence of monsters, though?" I ask, and Thalia looks back at me.

"As far as we know, no one has. That's why we assembled the most powerful demigods. Every group is headed in a different direction, and we had assigned a place for each group. We'll be communicating with everyone through Iris message - we'll know what they know, and they'll know what we find out."

I nod and Jason does the same. "So, if someone finds the whereabouts of these monsters, will we all head there?" Jason asks

"That is the plan, if nothing goes wrong. Since there will be so many monsters there already, it won't feel like we're attracting more," Thalia nods.

"So, where are _we _heading?" I ask.

"Nevada."

"Alright. And there are no leads at all? Do we at least know which coast it's on?" Jason says.

"We have no clue. For all we know they could be in Mexico, but we're going to try searching the states first."

We walk along in silence for a while, until we encounter two monsters. They are new to me, and I don't have much time to take in their appearance before one attacks me.

It moves quickly, and I can barely see flashes of dull brown as it moves around me, and I begin to sense it's heightened skills. It's stronger than I remember any of the regular monsters being, and I struggle to defeat it.

My breath shortens as I drive it back, and I strike the monster to the ground. It doesn't seem to defeat it, though, and I begin to charmspeak it. "Stay down," I say, pulling my sword out of its scaly flesh. It begins to rise and I repeat my command. It seems to have little effect - the monster barely flinches as I say this, and slashes at my leg. I can feel rubbery nails dig into my flesh, and shake it off, slashing at its arm with my sword.

I take a deep breath and try to put all my energy into the command. "Stay down!"

The body of the creature flickers in and out, as if it isn't really there, and I can tell it is struggling between orders. It seems to lower itself, before deciding to stand up again, and seems out of control of its movement. It strikes at my arm, and manages to draw blood.

I swing the sword at its chest, and barely pierce the side. "Stay down," I say once more, as I circle to its backside, and notice a spot at the nape of its neck where there are no scales. I drive my sword into it, and shout my discovery to the others. I don't have time to look and see if they heard me, though, because the monster turns its head, and snaps my sword in half. Ichor flows out of several of its wounds, and I can feel it slowing down.

I pull out Katoptris and strike at its hands, which are slicing through the air. The monster kicks its clawed leg out and hits me in the stomach. I stagger to the ground, wind knocked out of me. I look at the monster as my vision becomes hazy, and attempt to command it down. It doesn't work very well, because I can barely breathe, and I hear loud footsteps. Black dots appear in my vision as the creature comes toward me, staggering and bleeding. I shake to my feet and through one last blow at the creature.

I feel the blow I land rush back through me, and my legs give out as it strikes once again at my arm.

I open my eyes to see Jason's face above me, and I immediately notice his arm is bleeding, and feel a concerned expression forming on my face. I try to sit up, but I feel the pain flowing through my body, and he smiles at me. "I'm fine. You're in much worse condition than me."

He gives me a bit of nectar and I take it readily, feeling warmth flow through me. "What were those things?" I ask, leaning on his arm as I stand up.

Thalia picks up an arrow, saying, "We're not sure. They were new to me. I already sent out an Iris message to the rest of the Hunters. But we need to stay on guard from now on. This attack either means we're getting closer, or they knew where we were headed."

Jason wraps an arm around me as I stagger forward. "I'm ready, then."

"Then let's go," Jason says.

**Sooooooo... This is awkward. I completely missed the deadline and gave you THE SHORTEST CHAPTER EVER.**

**I hate this (not having more for you guys, I mean. I completely love writing this story). I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about a date. That was rude.**

**Sooo... Back to conversation. Hi! How are you? No, I'm not gonna tell you when I release the next chapter. Which is better for you and me, both (hey, that's a song!).**

**But I will say I don't plan on this story being a full length novel. I plan on having wrapped up this adventure in a few chapters and then ending it there. Maybe I'll add more occasionally. Not sure yet.**

**But I definitely want to finish this before I get to anything else! I will TRY to have another chapter posted by the end of next month. I will try to post a new chapter every month. Not saying it's going to happen, though. Because life.**

**Okay, bye! Thanks for reading!**


	10. CalypsoLeo - Mechanisms and Flowers

We were not the only ones to encounter the strange creatures. Thalia sent an Iris message to tell us of their encounter. Adelphia says it's likely most of the groups have already met them, and that it's likely there are multiple people growing them throughout the country.

Clarisse doesn't say much, but when she does it's to the point. When she says, "We should track them back to where they came from," I jump.

Adelphia nods and I reach for my bag, which I had thrown on the ground at the time of the attack.

We head over to where they first came from, and start to look around. "Whatever they were, they were pretty light on their feet." Adelphia says.

"Now, I have a question. How do you think someone could make these monsters so that they're, like, honest to goodness monsters? With the ichor and the vanishing and all that," I ask, stooping to the ground.

Adelphia responds, "The only thing I could think of is if they have the help of a god, or are a god. Since we don't know anything about them, it's hard to guess."

My eye catches something glint for a moment in the trunk of a tree ahead of me. I walk forward and knock on the tree, which gives off a hollow, metal sound. I feel around and my hand finds a lump. I press it, hoping something happens. The tree loses a few leaves, but not much else occurs. I walk to the next tree and knock on it. Also metal. I test three more before shouting to Adelphia and Clarisse. "Are metal trees a thing now?"

"No. Are they supposed to be?" Clarisse says, examining a leaf.

"These trees are."

"What?" Clarisse says, standing up and coming over. She feels the tree, and then knocks like I did.

Adelphia comes over and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Good work." She starts to climb one of them, and Clarisse searches the base of the trunk.

"There must be some kind of importance. You wouldn't just put up metal trees on a mountain. They've got to hold something, or be the entrance to somewhere, or maybe they're cameras to spy on something," Clarisse mutters as she yanks at the roots. One of them comes loose and a mechanical sound comes from below our feet. Adelphia trips on a branch and it snaps off, causing more noises to come.

"I think we're on to something bigger than we thought," Adelphia says, climbing down.

I got stuck with a quick-tempered huntress named Xenia and some other chick that I can't remember the name of.

"Oh, look how pretty these flowers are!" other chick says, stopping to smell them. Xenia gets mad at her and they start to argue. I look around, and then sit down while I wait for them to finish. The flowers are actually kind of ugly, and I pick one. Or at least try to, because it's stuck in the ground. I pull out some shears (because my tool belt has literally everything) and I cut it out of the ground. Sappy grey ooze comes out the end, and I turn it upside down, peering into the stem. It's insides are made up of metal, and where the ooze fell, more metal flowers grow.

"Xenia, can you Iris message Thalia? I think we found something."

The two automatically stop arguing and Xenia comes over while the other chick (that I have decided to name Cranky) sits down and pouts.

Xenia pulls out a drachma and begins to send out an Iris message. Thalia answers with Jason and Piper behind her, the two talking quietly. Xenia steps back and says, "She's all yours."

"Hi, so, these ugly flowers are metal, and they have this drippy thing inside them that makes more flowers."

"What?" Thalia says, raising an eyebrow. "Show me."

I turn the flower right-side up, but nothing drips out, so I go to cut another flower, and then show her.

"That's odd. Do you know why they do that, or what they are there for?" she asks, motioning Jason and Piper over.

"No clue. Has anyone else told you about similar things?"

"Not yet, but we'll be on the lookout. Is that it?"

"As far as I know, but all these two have been doing is argue, so I've been drowning them out."

Piper grimaces. "Okay, well, thanks."

"Don't forget to message us whenever you find anything else," Jason says, and the Iris message ends.

Right-o. "All we do is argue? You know what, I think I got the two laziest people on the planet!"

"That is so not true. I am not lazy _at all._" Cranky says, and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever you say. Let's just start figuring out the flowers," I say, messing with my first one and taking it apart.

"It sounded like it came from inside the mountain. If we can find an entrance, then maybe we'll get some answers," Clarisse says, and I nod.

"So do you think we're searching for a cave, or a tree that would open up, because I honestly don't want to mess with every single tree until we found the entrance."

"I would guess they put it in a tree, because a cave would be far too convenient for someone marching in on their business. I'll Iris message Thalia, you guys start looking around, and I'll join in in a minute," Adelphia says. I head to a new tree and start to knock on it, kicking at the metal roots until one comes loose. When nothing happens, I grab hold of the nearest branch and start to climb. Something occurs to me, and I yell to Clarisse.

"Have you noticed the lack of life? Where are the birds? I haven't even seen a bug yet."

"Since it's winter, I doubt they would be out. But I haven't seen any nests yet, which does feel a little odd."

Adelphia comes over and begins to mess with another tree. I sigh and my thoughts wonder, wondering how long this will take us.

"Thalia said Leo found something interesting, too," Adelphia says, tugging at the roots.

"Leo? What did he find?"

"Some flowers were made of metal. And I can't imagine these two things aren't related. We're still relatively close to them, so they could lead to the same place. I think it might be more of a trail. If we just followed the trees to the end of the trail, we might find something else. Of course, nothing is certain, but it's better than staying here all day and searching every tree."

"I think you might be right. We got lucky when we triggered those mechanisms, and there's no way we'll get through all these trees," Clarisse says.

"So which way do we go? If we don't know where the beginning is, I mean. We could be heading away from whatever we're searching for," Adelphia says.

"I think we should go up. We started at the base of the mountain, and nothing unusual was noticeable there. The monsters didn't come out until we got here, where the trees began getting thicker," I say, and Clarisse tilts her head.

"No use wasting any more time here. Let's keep going."

"Why on earth would someone make flowers out of metal? That's so dumb," Cranky said as she messed with the petals.

"Maybe they were bored." I yawn as I put the flower back together, finding a seemingly pointless piece in a petal. I press it and then twist it, and something clicks. All the flowers close and shrink into the ground, except the few I made when I poured out the liquid. "Well, that did something."

**So, as far as I know, it's not anyone that's from the actual book series. (But it might be, I'm still deciding.)**

**I love everyone's responses, they are so sweet!**

**AND ALSO DID YOU SEE MAGNUS CHASE CAME OUT TUESDAY BECAUSE I HAD IT ON MY CALENDAR ON THE WRONG DAY AND THAT WAS BAD, BECAUSE I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK. And I still haven't seen a physical copy of it, or held it, or read any of it, but I will hopefully get it sooooon!**

**Oh, and thanks for reading this, by the way. You guys are awesome!**


	11. LeoCalypso - Enemies Underground

"What the heck was that?" Cranky shrieks, and I sigh and stand up.

"_That,_" I say, "was a clue."

"But to what?" Xenia asks.

"Whatever we're searching for," I say, resisting the urge to tell them they're both idiots. How did Xenia get mixed up with the Hunters of Artemis, anyways?

I decide not to worry about it too much and focus on the trail. "I think we should split up."

"Since when did you get to be in charge?" Xenia says, and I glare at her.

"Since you two started fooling around and not focusing on the task at hand. Which is usually what I do. Hmm, I guess being dead has an effect on you."

"Alright, well since he actually has a plan, let's listen to it," Cranky says.

"Finally, I get some recognition around here! I was thinking that whatever just happened with the flowers, they must be some sort of path. Like, a group of people are working to make these monsters, so they have a system where in case someone forgets where the secret entrance is, they can just mess around with the petals of one of the flowers, and _viola! _Trail to secret entrance discovered. But presumably they would know which direction to go. We don't. So we need to split up. Say I went that way and Xenia went the other way, while you stay here. If I discovered it, I would Iris message Xenia, who would come find you, and then you would both come to me, or vice versa."

"I didn't realize boys had logic in them," Xenia says, which makes me snort.

"I guess life is filled with surprises," I say, and then Cranky yawns.

"Well, should we get started with the plan? I'll go that way," she says, pointing behind her.

"Great, I'll head in the other direction," Xenia says, leaving me to sit and figure out what to do with my life. I notice other flowers around the path, and pluck one from the ground. It's a real flower, but something feels off about it. _Man, I never thought I'd be studying flowers._

"So what exactly are we looking for again?" I ask as we practically climb through a metal forest on a mountain. It isn't quite as pleasing as you'd think it would be, surprisingly enough. "Like, a trapdoor?"

"That could be it, yeah. I was thinking more of a cave, but a trapdoor seems more likely," Adelphia says.

"That could be it," Clarisse says, pointing out scuff marks on the ground. She gets down and begins to tap around the area, and a rattling noise echoes through the area. She grabs at a loose root and pulls at it, grunting. Adelphia and I pull with her.

Dirt flies into my eyes as the door pulls out, breaking off its hinges and leaving a gaping hole in the ground. "I should probably call Thalia and let her know we found it - or something, at least. She'll want to know," Adelphia says, brushing dirt off her pants and pulling out a drachma. "You guys just stay here, I'll be back in a minute." Clarisse groans but nods. Once Adelphia leaves, Clarisse crawls closer to the opening and looks down.

"Why would someone go through all this trouble?" she asks, throwing a pebble down.

"I didn't-" I start to say, but Clarisse puts a finger up to her mouth. She holds her spear in a way that is very threatening, and I look down the hole, pulling out my dagger. A creature comes barreling up the steps, and Clarisse engages in battle with it, using her spear to wield it off, and I stab it in the back, ichor flowing out. It falls to the ground, and Clarisse grins. "I didn't know you had a dagger."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you had super sense, or whatever that was."

"I - Super sense?" Clarisse laughs, and then covers her mouth. "I mean, that was just - I didn't hear the pebble fall so I thought..." she trailed off, and then frowned. "Never mind. It was nothing."

I nod, and then sit back, fiddling with my dagger. Adelphia comes back. "Thalia says we should go ahead and check it out. She's sending another group our way, they'll be there for backup if we need it."

"Great. Be cautious going down, though. We had a run in with one of the new things while you were gone."

Adelphia nods, and then begins to walk down the stairs, motioning for us to follow. Clarisse takes the rear, me in the middle. I hold out my dagger, looking around, trying to let my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. Once we are down far enough that the darkness completely surrounds us, Adelphia stops. We hear a clattering noise, and she whispers. "There's something just left of us. We're near the end of the stairs. When we get to the very end, stand back to back."

I nod, even though she can't see. Adelphia continues forward, and then turns left. I follow her, and we begin to get in position. She walks briskly toward the noise, now getting louder. I can hear her pulling an arrow out of her quiver, and loading her bow.

Snarling echoes around us, and I hear Adelphia release her bowstring. I close my eyes, knowing keeping them open doesn't do anything, and follow the sound of snarling, slashing my dagger at the noise, feeling it make contact with the enemy. Clarisse's grunts begin to sound louder as the monsters are steadily taken down. When there is no more snarling, I open my eyes. I turn around, grinning. "We did it!"

"That was just the first wave. There are bound to be more coming," Clarisse says. "We need to keep advancing."

"Follow me, I think if we just keep to this path we should find something," Adelphia says. We press on through the darkness, and as we go further, feeling the walls, they begin to turn to stone rather than metal, and the faint sound of water dripping rings in my ears.

My hand bumps into a wooden frame, and I run into Adelphia. "I'm sorry for this," she whispers, and I feel a fist hit my stomach as I collapse on the ground.

Cranky comes back pretty quickly, and I stand up. "I think there's something else hidden in the flowers."

"I'm sorry, what?" she says, putting her hands on her hips. "While we were off walking around doing something productive, you were playing with the flowers?"

"Yes, I was playing with flowers," I say, rolling my eyes. "I found the real flowers have been damaged by the metal flowers. Somehow, the liquid from the metal flowers was spreading into the flowers surrounding it. What if they just put in one original metal flower, and it slowly turned the others into metal?"

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that the original flower would be the central focus, and exactly where their location is. The trail must be toward the central flower. I guess Xenia found it?"

"She found something. She said it wasn't exactly what she thought she was looking for, but it could be the entrance."

"And she found it that quick? That's lucky."

We walk in the direction Xenia went, mostly in silence. Not because there was lack of topics, but because I really don't think we like each other.

Xenia is sitting on the ground when we meet up with her, and she stands up quickly when she sees us. "This is what I found."

She points to a single flower in the middle of the path, different from any of the ones we have seen so far. It is completely silver, and very obviously metal. I pull out my shears and hack at it. It breaks off and the ground collapses underneath us. I land underneath the two, and groan. "You guys weigh more than you look, did you know that?"

"I think we may have bigger problems on our hands currently," Xenia says, getting up and drawing her bow, shooting at the monsters that surround us. Cranky pulls out a boomerang and starts throwing it at people. I manage to find a scalpel in my tool belt, and use that as my weapon, brandishing it at the creatures and trying really hard to kill them, but a scalpel doesn't actually do as much as you think it would, and I dig around in my belt for something else. And then I remember I can just set myself on fire, so I put away the scalpel and run at them while I am on fire. Which is a mostly good idea, but there are walls that have wooden boards covering them, which makes it a partly bad plan. Long story short, I end up setting the whole place on fire, leaving Xenia and Cranky no place to go. Which is very bad.

**Thanks for reading! Once again, so sorry for not getting this up sooner!**


	12. A New Update That Isn't from the Story

Alright, gonna keep this brief(ish). I have been very very absent for a very long time, and obviously I don't have another chapter yet. I promise I am working on it, hopes to have it posted by the end of May. Obviously I am bad at keeping my promises because life is like "HAHA SUCKER YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING YOUW ANT TO DO TODAY BECAUSE I HAVE PROBLEMS TO THROW AT YOU" and all that crap, which is annoying. So can't promise anything, and clearly no cover change. Haven't started on that, since I would rather finish writing this chapter before I do that.

But I can promise (and keep this promise) that toward the end of June I won't be as busy and will have more time to write! Unless life is stupid and rude again, but I will find a way around that until I get this story FINISHED!

Thank you ALL for reading this and loving it (at least, those who talk at all) and giving me feedback! Even if it is something bad to say about it, anything will help me improve my writing SO PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SAY IT, unless you tell me I am awful for not posting anything real (because I already know that).

Love ya!

OnceUponaDeath013


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